Healthy Holiday Treats

Looking for a lighter latke for Chanukah or pumpkin pie that even your family with high cholesterol can enjoy? These delicious recipes will help you with guilt-free lighter holiday eating.

Lighter Latkes

3 tsp canola or olive oil

2 lbs Idaho potatoes (4 - 5), peeled

3/4 cup finely chopped red onion (1 medium)

1/4 cup all-purpose white flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 450 F. Prepare 2 baking sheets by covering with aluminum foil, then cover each with 1 tsp of the oil. Alternately you could spray lightly with non-stick vegetable spray (such as Pam, which can be either the canola oil or olive oil variety).

Using a grater or the shredding blade of a food processor, grate potatoes. Place in a large bowl and add onions, flour, salt and pepper. Toss with 2 forks to mix well. Add egg, egg white and the remaining 1 tsp of oil.

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of the potato mixture onto the prepared baking sheets and press lightly to form cakes. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Turn the latkes over, switch the position of the baking sheets (top versus bottom racks), and bake for about 5 minutes longer, or until golden brown.

Transfer to a platter, arranging the latkes browned-side up, and serve. Makes about 24 latkes.

Each latke has 51 Cal, 1 g fat, 0 saturated fat, 9 mg cholesterol.

Recipe adapted from Eating Well magazine, Dec 1994.

Low fat pumpkin pie

4 egg whites, slightly beaten

16 ounce can pumpkin (or the meat from 1-lb pumpkin)

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp molasses

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

12 oz can evaporated skim (fat free) milk

9" unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 425 F. Combine ingredients in above order. Mix well. Pour into pie shell (or into an au gratin dish for a fat-free dessert). Bake for 15 minutes at 425F. Then reduce temperature to 350F, and bake for 45 more minutes. Makes 8 servings.